All Posts tagged healthy

If you are tired of the same old ingredients in your smoothies each morning, here are 10 unusual ingredients offering many health benefits as well as interesting flavours:

Cayenne Pepper: Cayenne pepper adds a real kick to your smoothie and works best in water or coconut water based recipes. You can also use it with green juices and cucumber smoothies. Cayenne actually has many health benefits including a boost to your circulation and metabolism as well as aiding in digestion.

Goji Berries: Goji berries hit the news as the new antioxidant to add to your diet. They provide amino acids as well as a lot of flavour. They go well with berry smoothies but can be added to just about any recipe.

Ginger: Ginger is delicious but also aids in calming tummies as well as boosting your immune system. You can add a nice chunk of fresh ginger to just about any smoothie and freeze it or keep it in the fridge for when you need it. Ginger has also been known to be an effective anti-inflammatory and can assist with headaches and migraines as well as nausea.

Chia Seeds: Chia seeds are an excellent source of omega-3, vitamins and minerals, but more importantly they help keep you hydrated. They have to be soaked overnight and when added to juice smoothies they add a lovely silky texture.

Bee Pollen: Bee pollen has many health benefits especially for healthy skin. It can aid in fighting acne, age spots and even allergies. If you are an exercise fanatic bee pollen can also aid in building muscles as well as increasing oxygen rich blood cells. Some people may not be too keen on the chalkiness as well as the price.

Magnesium Powder: If you want to add a little invigoration to your smoothies magnesium powder will do the trick. Magnesium powder adds a little fizzy fun to any smoothie and also comes in a number of flavours. It also provides a vital nutrient that you are probably sadly lacking.

When it comes to baking and cooking, a lot of people prefer to buy pre-made foods thinking that it’s cheaper and not that bad for your health. What those same people don’t realize, is that making everything from scratch can actually save you money, and give you the security and satisfaction of knowing what goes into your food. The only extra cost is your time, but is it worth that extra half an hour in your day to eat unnatural chemicals and preservatives?

Buying individual ingredients in bulk from the store can actually save you plenty of money, as the only things you will find that you run out often are fruits, vegetables, meats and other perishables. You will have to buy these things either way, but going this route you don’t need to buy everything else (breads, snacks, etc). If you are proactive and make a habit of freezing most perishables, you may actually find that (minus the big shopping to replace all your raw ingredients) you are only grocery shopping every 2 to 3 weeks to replace these perishables.

The biggest value though it that you know what is going into the food you eat, and you know there are no unnatural chemicals and preservatives designed simply to keep things on the shelf for longer. As people get into this lifestyle, many discover that eating the preserved food from stores is far less appetizing than homemade anyways. It just may take some practise to develop your skills in the kitchen (if you don’t have them already).

In order to get started, check out our nutritionist Aviva Allen’s website for recipes (http://www.avivaallen.com/General/snackstreats.html). She has a list of some great whole food and low sugar, natural grain snack recipes that will taste great and be incredibly healthy for you.